West Bridge Journals

IT’S JUST 5 MILES

This hike was to prepare us for trekking the Great Appalachian Trail in North Carolina. It was just a short five miles up the river to Nobles Ferry along the Suwannee River Trail. I had learned map reading in the Army, and I was very experienced hiker and map reader, so I got out my little hike plotter and measured off the distance. Only it wasn’t just five miles. So I wasn’t very good at math. I didn’t mean not to carry the “1” down when adding. I really didn’t. Things happen, you know, that will distract you sometimes. Besides, 15 miles is not so bad. And it was winter time, so we really did have to carry those 70 pound winter packs, in order to have everything we need to make a winter camp. However, no one would believe me. They think I plan the whole thing that way. It was a very long, long, long hike.

I did plan for everything, except the long miles. Everyone had winter sleeping bags and tents. We had trail food and food to cook. Everyone’s packs were check to see if the load could be shared. We strapped them on and started off on our hike. I had decided to hike from my house to the bridge then go around the State Park to get to the Suwannee River Trail. I did this thinking that since it was only five miles on the trail, we could add a couple more miles to the hike since we had plenty of time. Everyone was enjoying the hike during the first two or three hours. There were lots to see and learn. I think we all were a little disappointed at not seeing any wild life, but with 20 loud hiking boys, there was not much chance of seeing any.

This part of the river had a lot of cliffs, and the trail was up and down. It was a very good trial run for the mountains we were planning to hike. We stop at the natural bridges or rather “5 hole” where there is a spring of clear water running under the bridges into the river. A many summer day was spent there by most of us. There is a rope tied to a tree, that, we would swing off of into the water. It was a great place to go, until the druggies took it over. Further up the river we went, the more primitive it got. Because you can’t build or develop along the river, it is very much like it was 100 years ago. If you want to get away from progress, just hike the Suwannee River Trail.

It is a great experience, unless of course you are trying to do 15 miles in full winter pack with 20 boys. After about 6 hours the men started to treat me a little different, and say things like “it sure is a long 5 miles”. I was starting to find myself walking alone. At 8 hours I could hear things like, “this will be the last time we will listen to him”. At 10 hours I picked up the pace as best as I could under the conditions, as I was in fear of my life. These men were my friends but now I had no friends and was worried about my safety, and they were all behind me. The men were mostly caring the packs of the smaller boys by now, and not in a very happy mood. Some of the boys were whining, and this made the men more irritable. I look behind me and saw Bobby was gaining on me and his face said it all. Was he really going to throw me into the river like one suggestion I heard. However, he soon past me without a word. About 30 minutes later we made it to Nobles Ferry, just in time to cook supper and go to bed. I slept alone in my tent away from the others.